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Reading Level- 6.1
Margarita is a girl from two worlds, coming from her mother’s tropical homeland of Cuba, but spending most of her time in noisy Los Angeles. Growing up as a child of two cultures, she struggles with her own identity as well as the typical challenges of childhood such as making friends, understanding the adult world around her, and hating her hair or her size or her glasses. When a revolution breaks out in Cuba, Margarita’s two worlds crash into each other. This memoir written as poetry portrays the historical significance of the relationship between Cuba and the US through the voice of a young girl.

Mark_Daly
Aug 31, 2016

Engle's Cuban roots and her American upbringing give her a unique perspective on Cold War history. Her personal story incorporates reflections on the Cuban Revolution, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the Cuban Missile Crisis, even a visit to Franco's Spain. Students may find this brief but quietly powerful work enlightening as supplemental reading for studies of the era.

“Enchanted Air” resonates with me on a very personal level. Being an immigrant, I agree with Engle that “it really is possible to feel like two people at the same time”. Engle’s revelations sound very true and reassuring. Civil war, cold war, tyranny? Quite accurately depicted feelings about all these murky things in life. And yes, there is hope there, “all I know about the future is that it will be beautiful.”
This poetic memoir is very personal and at the same time universally applicable. A beautiful and touching read.